Smells the cat invited to Thanksgiving dinner based on the JFK airport saga

Smells the Cat has been invited to a Thanksgiving party after making a surprise trip to John F. Kennedy International Airport in a traveler’s suitcase last week.

The orange cat licked his lips in one photo in front of a turkey plate with all the trimmings at his Brooklyn home shared by Transportation Security Administration spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein Monday.

“Smells, the cat, that @TSA recently rescued from a checked bag @JFKairport after sneaking into a suitcase trying to fly to Orlando, he was enjoying Thanksgiving at home in Brooklyn,” Farbstein tweeted alongside the picture.

TSA agents were surprised to discover a tuft of orange fur sticking out of a person’s suitcase at Queens Airport on Tuesday morning.

“We’re letting the cat out of the bag on a historic find,” the agency tweeted at the time. “This CATch had our baggage control officers @JFKairport say, ‘Come on meow’!”

A subsequent scan of the luggage revealed the cat had been hitchhiked with his people’s houseguest who was en route to Orlando, Fla.

“Apparently, Smells was planning on chasing after a big mouse that he heard was walking around Disneyworld,” Farbstein said.

According to TSA and Smells’ owners, the traveler had no idea Smells was in their luggage.

The ball of fur was safely returned to its owners, who were called and came to JFK to collect it that same morning.

Its owner, 37-year-old Brooklyn resident Alix, whose last name has been withheld to protect privacy, said Smalls snuck into her houseguest’s suitcase while she was working.

She said authorities suspected the man had caught Smalls, but in fact it was Smalls who caught himself.

“Our cats really love checking out bags and boxes, and apparently one of them climbed into his trunk,” Alix said. “It was just an accident.”

While Alix said Smells didn’t seem bothered by the surprise trip, he seemed happy to be home – and behind a big plate of turkey and a glass of red wine.